How to (Actually) Work from Home with a Baby

Working from home with a little one can be challenging. When juggling baby’s needs with your normal work schedule, it hard to get much done in a day.

There’s no magic formula for making everything fall into place. Babies (and jobs) are always subject to throw unexpected curve balls. That’s why the biggest thing to remember is set the right expectations for yourself and the team you are interacting with. Make it clear that you may be accomplishing tasks or prioritizing in different ways than you would in the office.

That being said, here are a few tips to help with productivity while enjoying your time at home with your child.

Work with your child’s sleep schedule.

If your child is between the ages of 6-24 months they are most likely on a nap schedule. These blocks of time are the best time to get any important calls or projects that require total focus completed. Save all of your chores or clean up for when your child is awake, and do those with them.

Send emails on the go.

Try going for a walk with headphones or a Bluetooth earpiece. Use the voice feature, and speak your emails while walking with your child. It takes a little practice but is a great way to multi-task and both enjoy the outdoors while crossing some simple tasks off of your to-do list.

Ask for help.

It never hurts to get some help with childcare, especially if you are working from home more than three days a week. By hiring a professional or asking a family member to help for three-hour block of time, you free yourself up to sneak away to a coffee shop, or even another room in the house. This guaranteed free time allows you to get a lot of your work done in a timely fashion, without distraction.

Team Up.

If both you and your partner are working from home, take turns between who works and who plays with and tends to your child. This allows you to both get a little bit of work done while enjoying time with your little one.

Working from home solo? Have a conversation with your partner and work out a few hours before or after their job where they can take full baby duty—giving you some quiet time to work.